24 August 2014

Been there. Done That.

Its literal
translation in the English language is ‘already seen’ - however it is more than
that really. It is an experience of having experienced something before.

Or someone.

Even though you
haven’t.

Experienced it.

Or them.

It is a strange and
somewhat eerie phenomenon that has on occasion afflicted me. I am sure that
most people have. Well I am not sure but I suspect that they have.

I am not very
sure of anything nowadays.

Anything is
possible.

Everything is
possible.

I have been to
places where I have had an uncanny feeling that I have been before. The first I
can recall was when I was a young adult – such a long time ago – going to
Copenhagen.It was in my days of
carefree travel.

Those were the
days.

I went to the
famous and most beautiful Tivoli Gardens and I just knew that I had been there
before.

Even though I
hadn’t.

I walked around
with a very distinct feeling of familiarity. There are a lot of meandering
paths in the Tivoli gardens and I knew what was around each corner. I remember that
it was like being in a semi dreamy state and that I was confused. At the time I
wondered whether it was something I may have read about but as I reflect even now,
I knew that I hadn’t done any reading or research on places. It wasn’t my thing
back then – nor indeed is it really now.

I like to travel
and explore and the joy and mystery of discovery is a part of the whole travel
experience.

There have been
other times and places since then as well. I remember having strange repetitive
dreams about buildings and little villages. These are disjointed and blurry as
many dreams are – but in several cases I can recall simply gasping as I
recognised these places when I arrived. Tiny details that I could not possibly
have known about were retrieved from some deep dark recess of my mind.

There have been
people too.

I meet a lot of
people in my work and in my life and I am a social animal.

I talk to
strangers all the time.

On a very rare
occasion I will instantly connect with someone. It might be because we have
similar views or likes but to me it seems more than that. It is as if I have known
them before. I know how they think, what they like and what they dislike and I
find that we will complete each other’s sentences.

It is strange.

It is uncanny.

It is a bit
disconcerting but it is nice.

It is very nice.

I have discussed
such things with friends before. In the sorts of conversations that one has
over dinner with large groups. I love these types of philosophical discussions.
I love any sort of intellectual dialogue where there is debate and a swapping
of experiences.

I love scenarios
where the subjects include a “what if” line of questioning.

The very discussions that I
have had on the déjà vu subject has been with my many Buddhist and Hindi
friends in Nepal. Some of these guys are lamas and one is in fact a monk who is
an incarnation of the Ranag Rinchen Buddha. His full title is Guru Ranag
Rinchen Rinpoche and he is also known as the Dolpo Buddha – or simply ‘Guru’.
To me he is just Rinpoche – and whilst I am not a follower or devotee of his,
he has become my good friend.

Rinpoche is a healer and a master of Tummo - a curative power that 'generates heat'. Those few lamas that practice such healing are required - when they complete their teachings - to sit on a frozen lake enshrouded in a thin shawl that has been soaked with iced water. They must dry the shawl by generating 'internal heat'.I have been treated with Tummo healing by Rinpoche for my chronic migraines.I have felt the heat.It was very painful but effective.The Guru has followers from all around the world. His temple
– or monastery – lies amongst a cluster of other monasteries known as Shey
Gompa – and it has been the seat of his ancestors - called the Dolpo Shel-ri
Rinpoches - for more than one thousand years.

The Guru’s monastery is in
the very faraway region of the upper Dolpa and sits at about five thousand
meters above sea level. Monks constructed it by hand on a narrow precipice and
in some places it has been carved out of red rock. It is located within a
cradle of the Himalaya ranges and lies in the shadow of a sacred mountain named
Shelri Drug Dra in the Nepali language – but is known as the Crystal Mountain
by we Westerners.

I don’t know why.

Nor do I really care.

I digress.

I sometimes do.

The conversations I have with
Rinpoche are always enlightening and delightful. I never fail to learn
something and we always laugh a lot. On more than one occasion he has told me
that the feelings of déjà vu that I have experienced are echoes of my previous
lives.

Buddhists and Hindus believe
in reincarnation. It is in fact one of the pillar stones of their faith.

The Hindu people refer to
reincarnation as Punarjanma. They believe that our bodies are simply vessels
but our selves – or our souls as the Christian faith describes them – go
through an endless cycle of birth, death and then re-birth. The deaths and
rebirths are called Samsara. The Hindu people refer to the soul as the Jiva -
which they believe is eternal and indestructible.

Rinpoche explained to me that
the manner in which a Jiva is re-born – or the vessel into which it next
manifests - is dependent upon something called karma. I thought I knew what
karma was but I think it is more complicated than my understanding.

Many things are.

In its very base form karma
is what we do. It is our actions and our inactions. It relates to kindness and
humility and temptation. It is the process of the accumulation of wisdom and
recognition of the insignificance of things that are material.

It is the absence of desire.

It is a process of love.

My friend the monk told me
that the Christian concept of heaven and hell does not exist at all in the
Hindu or Buddhist faiths. People who are bad or evil or simply ignorant will be
reborn in a lesser vessel than they previously were. In some instances their
rebirth will be in the form of an animal rather than a human.

Rinpoche told me that the
journey of life and the accumulation of wisdom is what generally described as a
search for enlightenment. This is a complete understanding and acceptance that
virtuosity is the purest form of being and that benevolence and solicitude are
the ‘true path’. Achieving absolute enlightenment is a very rare and difficult thing
but when obtained it is a form of pure divinity where the soul or jiva requires
no vessel in which to live.

It is an absolute purity of
essence.

I like the concept a lot.

When I asked Rinpoche whether
this was being a god he laughed and said that gods were a pagan and Christian
belief – and that man was responsible for his own destiny. He told me that the
state of divinity was known as ‘Moksa’ and the final recognition of ones true
self is called ‘Sadhana’.

I told Rinpoche that I
thought that this very beautiful and he told me that he agreed.

I told Rinpoche this because
I think it is.

Very beautiful.

I often talk to
Rinpoche about matters of faith for I have little in the way of spirituality.

He doesn’t seem
to mind.

We tend to talk
about things that are both Hindu and Buddhist. Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist
monk but he has explained very patiently to me that in the mountain kingdoms of
Tibet and Nepal the two faiths have co-existed for more than two thousand
years. Many of the very ancient temples of Kathmandu that I so love are
actually both Hindu and Buddhist. They are shared sites.

There is no other
place in the world that such places exist.

The holy man has
told me that whilst there has been much conflict in both ancient and recent
times in Nepal – none have ever been for religious regions.

I like this a
lot.

Many of the
world’s wars are caused by religion.

Look at the
Middle East.

Look at Ireland.

Man’s inhumanity
to man is an abhorrent thing.

The guru Rinpoche
is a master of a type of meditation called Vipassana. It is the fundamental
principal of his healing powers and he teaches this discipline to his
followers. On more than one occasion Rinpoche has offered to teach me Vipassana
but I have told him that I do not think that I have the patience.

I find it
difficult to even sit still.

From what little
I can understand – and I do understand very little – Vipassana meditation is an
endeavour to enter a trance like state where there is an absolute denial of
ownership or judgment or memory.

It is simply a
state of being.

Rinpoche has told
me that the concept of desire is the biggest obstacle to moving towards total
enlightenment. To achieve such a state man must go through many forms of
suffering. Such dolor is called ‘Dukkha” by Buddhists and when achieved it will
eventually lead to something called “Nirvana”. Nirvana is where the physical world
and the physical body lose all significance. The word and concept of “Nirvana”
is derived from the Sanskrit concept of “Nibbana”.

The literal
translation of “Nibbana” is “vanishing” where the world stops and there is
complete self-awareness.

Nice huh?

I think so.

So back to the
whole issue of déjà vu and my discussions with the guru on this subject. I have
told him of the strange connection I feel with Nepal and the fact that I felt a
type of kinship with the country the very first time I went.

And every time I
return.

It was an
immediate and deep fellowship.

I have told him
too of the similar type of connection I have always had with the ocean – and as
with the mountains of the Himalaya - I have a sense of absolute peacefulness
and imperturbation that is difficult for me to describe. I also tried to
explain to Rinpoche the peculiar feelings of déjà vu I have described earlier
in this writing - and I remember him nodding his head in a knowing fashion.

He does this
often.

Nods his head.

He thinks these feelings
of mine are simply echoes of my past lives.

I may once have
been to these places that seemed familiar to me. I may have known the people
who I feel an immediate connection with.

He thought I
might once have been a sea creature too.

When I suggested
I might have once been a whale he laughed and said that this was possible – but
I could also have been a turtle.